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KIC CROWNS 14 PROJETS AT CLOSE OF MAKERFAIRE KUWAIT 2019

Feb-18-2019

Kuwait Investment Company has concluded the events of the third round of MakerFaire Kuwait 2019 international exhibition organized by it under the patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. 14 projects were announced as the winners out of a total of 147 projects that participated in the exhibition, with prizes totaling US $ 30,000. They included 9 projects from Kuwait and 5 from other GCC countries.

At the closing ceremony, KIC Chief Executive Officer, Bader Nasser Al-Subaie, emphasized that the success of the exhibition for the third year in a row is owed to the generous patronage of His Highness the Amir, Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, whose futuristic vision of Kuwait is reflected in the New Kuwait Vision 2035, which was echoed by the 600 young males and females who own 147 projects representing their entries to the current version of MakerFaire at which they displayed their manufacture, trades or inventions that thrilled and pleased every one present. He commended the efforts of all the company's employees and those responsible to the setting up of the exhibition in such a magnificent manner. He also thanked all the sponsors who participated in supported the work of our young people.

In statements to the press, Al-Subaie said: "All the employees of Kuwait Investment Company, all participants in the exhibition and all the 75,000 visitors of MakerFaire Kuwait over the last four days, all of whom are so proud that this event has been honored by the sublime patronage of His Highness the Amir."

He added that the exhibition featured participations from a number of countries, as well as Kuwait, foremost among which were the participations made by other GCC countries and Arab countries, adding that the MakerFaire exhibition is held in more than 44 countries worldwide, including Kuwait with its well-known support for the youth and their works.

He indicated the importance with which US decision makers view MakerFaire which was hosted by former president Barack Obama at the White House where MakerFaire was held for two full days, in view of its importance and the fact that those Makers are the nucleus of a future economic and educational society.

Al-Subaie clarified that: "Kuwait Investment Company's objective in holding the exhibition is to provide support to our young people, both male and female, to highlight their creativity, experience and ability that can be seen and appreciated only through the MakerFaire Kuwait exhibition which provided an excellent opportunity for many sponsors and companies to adopt such projects that have been seen during the month of February in every year."

He went on to say that KIC has designated 9 prizes for three categories of the projects participating this year: culture – heritage, education and technology. The prize for each of the first three winning projects was for KD 1000, the second KD 750 and the third KD500. However, the real prize for the winners is their participation in MakerFaire and the display of their ideas and projects, for more than 600 individuals from whom the best were selected." He emphasized the adoption of many of the participating projects and ideas in cooperation with the sponsors so that they may be carried through to fruition.

The Fourth Version

Senior Manager of the Public Relations and Information Office, Chairman of the Organizing Committee of MakerFaire Kuwait exhibition, Talal Al-Rashdan, emphasized that the third version of MakerFaire achieved a huge success at the Middle East level, not only in Kuwait.

He added that the strategic objective of Kuwait Investment Company is to provide support for and investment in the young people who are the future of the State of Kuwait. I explained that the first version of the exhibition, held in 2017, had 50 Maker participants, the second 70 and the present version had 147 participating projects, of which 25 individuals were from the GCC countries in addition to the Arab countries, such as Egypt, Sudan, Jordan and Syria, and from the USA, China, Italy and France.

In a statement to the press, he said around 75,000 persons visited the exhibition despite the inclement weather conditions that prevented the achievement of the previously expected 90,000 level. He said that the company achieved its objective from holding and organizing the exhibition.

Al-Rashdan promised to expand future MakerFaire Kuwait exhibitions through accompanying programs and events. He explained that "the company does not seek to achieve any profits from organizing the exhibition, for all that we profit to the young participants n terms of booths, meals, media appearances for all projects is free of charge. We merely market the idea of our young people and help them to materialize their projects. We support and push them forward and have already achieved success in this regard. This is the sole objective the company seeks to achieve from MakerFaire Kuwait."

Al-Rashdan went on to day that "Kuwait Investment Company is already planning for the 4th version of MakerFaire, with new idea, with 200 projects displayed within and outside the hall. Achievement of this objective will call fr visits to several Arab countries to present the MakerFaire idea with a view to increase the number of participations from outside Kuwait to 50 or even 60 projects. We also plan to increase the number of the exhibition days to one week for the 2020 version, compared to the five days for this year. The number of visitors on the last day alone reached 5,000."

He added: "There is a tough competition among the participating projects submitted by the young who are increasingly asserted their idea and projects and increasing their efforts to have them admitted at the exhibition and presented in as positive a manner as possible. This would not have been possible without the MakerFaire Kuwait exhibition."

Al-Rashdan mentioned a participating project from a GCC country: A device that detects mines, invented by university students. The owner of the project said that if the project succeeds, it will be able to compete against major countries.

He said that MakerFaire Kuwait is coordinating with the flagship MakerFaire New York. He explained that the executive director and founder of MakerFaire, Dale Doverty, commended our Kuwait exhibition has every right to be among the flagship exhibitions, given the division of the participating categories of projects: technology, culture-heritage, arts and education, which he found quite amazing.

The Winning Projects:

The Smart Periodical Table

The Smart School Application

The Art of Ebro

Utopia Arts

Reem Al-Nouri Arts

Life O'Boy Project

Art Coloring Project

Robots for Serving and Help Humans

The "Hand-in-Hand" Project.

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